Apparatus for preparing fruits and vegetables for preserving.



l C. I. PETERSGN. APPARATUS FOR PREPARING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES FOR PBESERVING.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. I4. I9I4.

Patented Apr. 25, 191.

5 SHEETS-SHEET I.

C. I. PETERSUN. APPARATUS FOR PREPARING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES FOR PRESERVING.

y APPLICATION FILED IAN. I4. ISU.

.,180,87'7. Patented Apr. 25,1916.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2- (3.1. PETERSON. APPARATUS For: PREPARING FRUITS AND vEGETABLEs Foa PRESERVING.

- APPHCATIN FILED JAN] 4| 1914- V 1,18087'7. Patented Apr. 2a, 1916.

J6 @AUWQ Q ff l QA@ @QQl 6.1. PETERSUN. APPARATUS FOR PREPARING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES FOR PRESERVING.

APPLICATION FILED IAN.14, I9I4. 1,180,877.

5 SHEETS-SHEETMI- Patented Apr. 25, 1916.

y c, J. PETERSON. 1 APPARATUS FOR PHEPARING FRUTS AND VEGETABLES FOR PRESERVING.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.14,1914.

Patentad Apr. 25, 19H5.

5 SHE TS-S EET 5 www?,

, I ff' 5M @mm rinrrnn 4sra'rns PATENT 'oFFIoE 'CHARLES J'. PETERSON, OF WILIVIEITE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO kWEIJI'JIEIB MANUFAC- TURING COMPANY, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

APPRATUS FOR PREPAR-INGFRUITS AND VEGEIABLES PRESERVING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

'Application med Januaryvm, 1914. serial'No. 811,963.

The invention designs to provide an appafatus embodied in'r a co'perative unit for successively feeding, sorting and scalding the fruit or vegetables. v

@he invention further designs to provide an`,ap'para'tus whereby the products to be treated are successively and continuously fed through the washing, sorting and scalding compartments.-

The invention further designs to provide a single drain for the whole apparatus.

It' has genei'allyjbeen the custom to con struct'sorting tables wherein the bad stock is picked out from.v the good during the progress of the stockiialong the table. This method* is objectionable because at times, the

operators atthe sorting table do not'pick out all the bad stock and fail to cut out all` the bad portions from the good stock, and in consequence, some of the bad stock remains with the good and contaminates .the whole of such stock. kInthe sorter herein shown and described, provision is made for sortl ing the good stock from the bad and vonly the good stock continues on to the scalder. Resultantly, contamination of this stock will not occur and the objectionable features of the old method is overcome by this new form of-apparatus The invention further designs 'to provide and improved .triple lcompartment able whereby the good stock may be from the bad. A .volition-further designs to provide nous traveling table for the sorter scalder. i

iiie invention further designs to provide means fordisposing of the bad stock after it leaves the sorting table.

The invention further designs to provide a new and improved form of scalder Whereby the steam contained therein is prevented Patented Apr. 25, 1916'.

from dissipating into the room to annoy the i operators, by the use of a blanket for the steam in the form of a continuous sheet of cold water forming a curtain and an effec-y tivev steam-tight closure at the ends of the scalder. -v

The invention further designs to provide a new and improved preserving apparatus.

The invention consists in the novel features vhereinafter set forth and more particularly defined byclaims at the conclusion hereof.

In the drawings: Figure l. is a plan view of ythe apparatus. Fig. 2 is an elevation thereof. Fig. '3 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of the sorter and scalder taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is an` enlarged plan of the feeder and Washer. Fig. 5 is an elevation thereof. Fig. 6 is an enlarged plan of the'sorter. an elevation thereof. Fig. 8 is a sectional perspective view of the sorter.- Fig. 9 is an.v enlarged plan of the scalder. Fig. 10 is an elevation thereof. f

The invention comprises a feeder A, 'a washer B, asorterC, a scalder D, and means for continuousl'yvfeeding the stock through these units.

The apparatus-illustrated as an exemplifi- Fig. 7 is f cation of the invention, is particularly for stock, such as tomatoes.

The feeder comprisesa Water-tank l0, havihg a deflector plate 1l therein. The tomatoes i are dumped into the tank 1Q and initially plate l1. The buckets12 are of the basket type with a long` back which makes them continuousand formsa'perfect discharge at the head or top of the conveyor or elevator A. The conveyor A is 'ab ven from thepulley 14 on the shaft l5 through sprockets 16 connected by a chain 17 ,to drive the shaft i8 vwhich drives a similar shaft 19 through parallelly disposed sprockets 20, connected by chains 2l. The initial soaking of the tomatoes when they are placed in the tank l() tends to. remove and loosen the dirt which adheres to them previous rto their bein raised by the conveyor A tothe mouth o the Washer B. and prepares themfor final washing. A hopper 22, disposed adjacent the discharge end of the conveyerA and the ope-ning to the washer B, discharges tomatoes fed by the elevator into the washer.

The washer comprises a revolving screen secured to a cylindrical frame 24 which is mounted on a double set of trunnions which are supported on a suitable frame 2G and are 'driven through beveled gears 27, one of these gears being` secured to the drive-shaft 15. Directly below, and partially inclosi-ng the lower part of the revolving washer 23, is a dripepan 2S, provided with a discharge-opening 29, so that the water from the conveyer A and the.

washer will drain from the dripfpan 2S into the drippan hereinafter described provided for the sorte and scalder.v The tomatoes are carried along in an even man ner through the revolving screen 23 and are f kashed by a continuous spray of water under high pressure from a spray pipe 23 which is disposed in the upper portion of the washers. lr rom the washer, the tomatoes pass to the sorter C and are directed onto this device by an adjustable plate 30 pivoted at 31 to a delivery chute 32, so that the tomatoes issuing from the washer will be delivered directly7 ,to the movable table on the sorter and so that the feeding of the material from the washer may be acy draining, having a single outlet is provided forthesystem. i i

Sprockets 3G and 37 are* mounted on shafts 38 and 39, respectively, which are journaled in the frame 33. These sprockets carry endless chains 40 to which are secured a seriesof steel plates 41 spaced apart `from eachother so asr to allow them to drain, and forming an endlessconveyer table 42 .to convey stock from the washer B through the sorter C landv the' scalder D. The con! veyer table l2 is driven by a motor 4.3 through a gear train 44, pulley 45, belts 46,

pulley 47, and gear-train 48 to drive shaftk 39.'t0 drive the sprockets 37 which, in turn, will drive the chains 40 of the conveyer table,42. The. pulley 14 is also driven by the motor 43 through the belt let and pulley 34 on` the shaftcarrying'th'e sprockets 3G.

Thus, all the unitsloffthe'apparatus Will be driven simultaneously from the' motor 43. The endof the sorter C adjacent the y and ply through yanpipe 74.

washer rB is provided with hinged deilector gates 50 and 51 pivotally secured to the frame 33 and which, when in position, divide the tomatoes issuing from washer B into two streams which move along corr veyer table 42. The sorter is divided into three compartments 52, 53, 54, which are separated from each other by partitions 55 and 5G running lengthwise of the sorter and secured at the top to cross braces 57 on frame 33 and extending downwardly to the surface of the conveyer table 42, whereby stock carried by the `conveyer table 42 will pass along within these compartments and whereby stock from one of thecompartments maybe separated from that in the same and placed in another.

In'vpractice, the tomatoes which have issued from the washer B and have been conveyed tothe conveyer table 42, are divided by the deflector plates 50 and 51 into two stieamsdnoving along in compartments 52 The sorters sit near the table on seats, such as shown at 59, and as the stock passes by them, they remove the good stock from the bad and place `it in the central compartn'ient 53 and also cut out the bad portions from such of the good stock as can be saved, and which. is then placed in compartment 53, so that when the stock has moved to the farther end of the table, all

thegood stock has been removed from the tained in the cent-ral compartment Mechanism is provided at the enit end of the sorter for disposing of the bad stock, which consists of a pair of revolving brushes 59 driven through bevel gears 60 on a drive-shaft 61 and oppositely disposed hoppers (32 adjacent compartments'52 andl v54 so that material traveling along in said on ay shaft (37 which drives the gearsQS for the revolving crusher rolls (33.. The. shaft, 61 is driven by the motor -l-B through the gear train 44, pulley G9J belt 70 and 'pulley 7l on said drive-shaft 61. i

As previously stated, the bad stock in the compartments and. 5l is disposed of and only the good stock is allowed to continue on to the scalder D, and is carried therethrough on the -conveyer 42. The scalder Dcomprises a hood 72 in which are located steam pipes 73 connected to a steam sup- At either end of the scalder and within said hood there .are transversely disposed spray. tubes75 Vcon nectedvtoa supply of Coldwater through bad stoel( and only .the good stock is rey tained within the'scaldeif,=so.th atdurin its I operation, the-steaniprevented rom v dissipating erators.

intothe'room, to annoy the op- The invention thus'exempliiies va combined feeding, washing, sortin'gand scalding aplparatus'which is use din the process of prne-l serving fruits and vegetables and. one in. which the stock to be treated is continuously.

fed through the various units,'"the drainage ior these units being'c'arried off by a single drain.

The. invention also lexemplifies a triple compartment sorting table, wherein the good stock is separated from the bad and the bad stock disposed of withouthandling the same, and whereby only the good stock is allovved 'to continue on through the scalder which is fided with a steam-tight closure at either invwtion isfnot to be understood as re' acted to thedetails set forth, since these may be modified within the scope voi the appended claims, Without `departing from the spirit andfscope of the invention.

Having thus described lthe invention, what I claim as new and desireto secure by Let lters Patent, is:

` i. Apparatus oi the character described,

i comprising thecombination of a sorter and a scalder', means for continuously feeding material through the sorter and scalder and drip-pan for receiving the drippings from the. sorter and the scalder and conducting them into a single drain.

2. Apparatus of thecharacter described,.

comprising the combination of -a Washer, a sorter, a scalder, means for continuously feeding material through the Washer, sorter and scalder, and a driplpan for receiving the drippings from the Washer, the sorter and scalder and conducting them to a single drain.

3. Apparatus of the character described, comprising the combination of a sorter, com prising a sorting table, a scalder and means for conducting the residue from said sorter and scalder to asingle drain.

a. Apparatus of the character described, comprising the combinationv of a sorting table,

ously along the table, a scalder through means for Jfeeding theastock continu- Y which the stock is conducted, and means for, removing the bad stock from the table be fore it reaches the scalder.

45. In apparatus of the character described, the combination of a sorting table, comprising plural compartments, means for delivering the unsorted stock into one of the compartments, means for delivering all of the stock left in said compartment to Waste, a scalder, and means for delivering all the stock the sca der.

6. In apparatus of thel character described, the combination of a sorter, comprisinga triple compartment sorting table, whereby the good stock may be separated from'the bad and placed in one of'said compartments, a scalder comprising a scalding table and means vcomprising an endless apron for conveying the stock along the sorting table and the good stock along the scalding table.

' 7. In `apliaratus of the character de'- scribed, the combination of a' sorter comprising 'a triple-compartment -sorting table whereby the goodstock may be separated from the badand placed in one of` said com' laced'in the other compartment to' partments, means for removing the.. b ad stock from the table, a scalder comprising a scalding table and common means for conveying the stock along the sorting table and the good stock. along the scalding table.

8. In apparatus of the character described, thel combinationof a sorter comprising a triple compartment sorting table whereby the good stock may be separated from the'bad and placed in one of said compartments, means for removing the bad stock from the other compartments, ascalder comprising a scalding table and means ,comprisi'ng an endless apr'on for conveying the stock along the sorting table and the good stock along the scalding table.

9. Apparatus of the character described, comprising the combination ofl a sorter and a scalder, means for preventing steam escaping from said. scalder toward the sorter,

and means for continuously feeding the ma terial through said sorter and scalder.

- 10.. In apparatus of the character described, the combination of a sorter and a scalder, means comprising a cold Water spray pipe at one end of the scalder for preventing steam escaping toward the sorter and means for feeding the material through said sorter and scalder.

MILDRED STUMPE, KATHARiNE GERLACH.

from said scalder' lio', 

